Popcorn popper



c. J. SHEPHERD 3,079,854

PoPcoRN POPPER Filed April 28. 1960 March 5, 1963 y @f5- I INVENTOR.

United States Patent O snrassa PPPER @harias E. Shepherd, Hometown, lli. (26734 S. Greenwood Brive, Glyrnpia Fields, iii.) Filed Apr. 2d, i966, Ser. No. 25,237 2. (Si. Jig-2331) The present invention relates to a novel food preparation utensil and more specifically to a novel popcorn popper.

While popcorn popper structures are of the type contemplated herein may utilize various heat sources, they are especially suitable for use in association with charcoal grills and will be described herein with emphasis on such use so as to facilitate the disclosure. Numerous attempts have been made to provide a popcorn popper structure suitable for use with charcoal grills and the like. ln general, such prior efforts have met with failure for one or more reasons. For example, in certain proposals the corn after being popped is exposed to too much heat so that it may be burned. In other proposals the possibility of burning may be reduced, but the corn is not heated enough to assure rapid and generally uniform Poppins it is an important object of the present invention to provide a novel popcorn popper structure particularly suitable for use in association with a charcoal grill or other fire heat source and constructed so as to promote rapid and uniform popping of the corn and also so as to minimize any possibility of burning of the popped corn.

A further important object of the present invention is to provide a novel popcorn popping structure which may be mounted on a charcoal grill or suitable support and which is adapted to agitate the corn during a popping operation without any eed for manual manipulation.

A further important object of the present invention is to provide a novel popcorn popper which is constructed for presenting unpopped kernels relatively directly to the heat source to promote rapid heating and popping thereof which structure is also adapted to direct popped corn away from the heat source so as to minimize any possibility of burning thereof.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel popcorn popping structure which is constructed so that unpopped kernels are relatively directly exposed to a heat source while popped kernels are relatively shielded and insulated from the heat source whereby rapid popping of the kernels is prompted and any possibility of burning of the popped corn is minimized.

S 'll anot' er object of the present invention is to provide a novel popcorn popping structure of the above described type which may oe selectively adapted for popping the corn either with or without the use of oil and the like.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a popcorn popper of the above described type which is of simple and rugged construction.

A further specilic object of the present invention is to provide a novel popcorn popper structure of the above described type which may be easily cleaned and maintained.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following descr'ption and the accompanying `drawings wherein:

FIG. l is a perspective view showing a popcorn popper incorporating features of the present 4invention mounted on a charcoal grill;

PEG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view of the popcorn popper structure shown in FIG. l;

FG. 3 is a further enlarged fragmentary exploded perspective view showing a portion of the structure in further detail;

HG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective View showing a able.

portion of the structure for securing the popper to a grill or other support in greater detail;

FG. 5 is a further enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing details of a lower portion of a basket member of the popper;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a'slightly modilied form of the present invention;

FlG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention; and

FlG. 8 is a perspective view showing an element of the structure shown in FIG. 7.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings wherein like parts are designated by the same numerals throughout the various figures, a popcorn popper it) incorporating features of the present invention is shown in FIG. l mounted on a charcoal grill 12. The grill l2 may be of any known construction and usually includes a bowl or container 1d having a circular or any other desired configuration and in which charcoal 15 or other fuel may be burned. Any suitable means such as legs 1S are provided for supporting the bowl.

The popcorn popper l0 comprises a container Ztl for the popcorn and support means 22 for mounting the container 2d on the bowl 14 of the grill, or any other suitable base.

As shown best in FIGS. 2 and 5, the container portion 2d of the popcorn popper comprises a perforated basket 2d and a lid member 26 therefor. A handle member 2S of heat insulating material is secured to the lid member. While it will be appreciated that the basket member Zd may be formed from various suitable materials, it is preferably formed from screening or wire cloth. By way of example only it may be stated that 1G mesh, 30 gauge wire cloth has been found to be particularly suit- Preferably the wire cloth is nickel plated or the like, so as to facilitate washing and cleaning and to minimize any possibility of rustinv.

In accordance with an important feature of the present invention it is to be noted that the basket member 24 is formed so that it has a relatively small lower end portion for coniining kernels 3@ of unpopped corn, as indicated in FIG. 2, and side walls which diverge upwardly from the lower end portion for providing an enlarged chamber for receiving popped corn 32, also as indicated in FiG. 2. Preferably the basket member is provided with a substantially inverted frusto-conical configuration for facilitating uniform heating and processing of the corn in the manner described more in detail below. This configuration also simplifies production of the basket lmember and provides a rounded or cornerless construction which facilitates cleaning. Preferably an upper mari gin of the basket member is welded or otherwise fixed to a relatively heavy gauge annular re-enforcing wire 34.

As indicated above, the construction of the basket member 2d is such as to promote rapid heating of unpopped kernels Sti at the lower end of the basket member while reducing any possibility of overheating and burning of the popped corn 32. More specifically, it will be noted that, as shown best in FIG. 5, the wire cloth is formed from crossed wires 3d and 38 which define apertures or openings 49 therebetween. The extreme lower end portion of the basket member is formed so that the wire cloth extends substantially transversely of the ver- "cal axis of the basket member or, in other words, this portion of the wire cloth has its outer surface facing the heat source most directly so that the openings 49 therein are substantially fully exposed to the heat source, as indicated by the spacing of the lines in FIG. 5 which show the effective widths of the various openings el). At the same time the effective widths of the openings il of the portions of the wire cloth forming the sharply inclined sides of the basket member are greatly reduced.

As a result, the unpopped kernels 30 in the lower end of the basket may be subjected to a relatively high and rapid heating action since there is a greater substantially direct exposure tothe heat source through the effectively wider openings 4i? in the lower end of the basket, and the sharply inclined side portionsl of the basket which present openings which are in effect relatively small or substantially closed; serve to deflect a greater portion of the heat received from the re whereby the popped corn 32 is insulated from such deflected heat and any possibility of burning is minimized.

The ,sharply inclined and diverging side portions of the basket member not only tend to shield and insulate the popped corn fromthe heat source or re as indicated above, but they also cause the popped corn to rise to a greater height above the heat'source further to aid in reducing the heat to which the popped corny is subjectedand thereby reducing anytpossibility of burning. As a result of the inclination of the side portions, which inclination is obtained by forming the truste-conical basket member with an rincluded angle which preferably approaches about 45,, corn which has been popped rapidly fills the relatively smalllower end of the basket member so that the poppedkernels are relatively quickly pushed upwardly toward the larger end of the basket and at the same time to a greater. heightabove the heat source. Furthermore the force of the explosions of the popping corn tends to agitate the unpopped vkernels which, being considerably smaller and smoother than the popped Vcorn, tend to gravitate to the lowest point in the basket member and thereby slide beneath any popped kernel so Vthat substantiallyall vof the popped kernels are forced upwardly either as aresult of their own explosion or of the action of the unpopped kernels;

, The support means 22 comprises a ,wire or standard '42 having a suitable tting 44 secnred to an upper end thereof and adapted to enter the socket member 46 secured to a sidel of the basket member 24. In the embodiment shown, the tting 44 Ais inthe Aform of a simple and economicalinvertedTfshaped sheet metal member welded to the end oit the var11 1,4 2 H The socket member (46Y isalso formed of sheet metalandis weldedto the Yside of the lbasket member adjacent the upper margin of the basket. Flange elements 48 andi-'ttl are lstruck Qutwardly frQm the .body O f ,the Seeketmembsrf which flanges have portions` extending laterally outwardly and then towardeach other for dening a socket adapted to accommodate the upwardly extending stem portion of the inverted T -shaped fitting 44. I A bracket member 52 as shownin FIGS. vl and 4, vis provided forv securing ,a.lower end portion of the arm 42 to the bowl of the grill, or any other suitable support. I'he bracket member which may beeconomically formed from sheet metal includesan upstanding section 5 4 having flanges 56 and 58 extending generally horizontally from upper and lower margins thereof. The iiange 56 terminates in a relatively short downwardly projecting flange 60 which is adapted to be hooked over an edge o f the bowl 15 of Athe grill for connecting the bracket to the grill. Aligned apertures 62 and 64 are formed inthe anges 56 and S8 for slidably receiving a lower end portion of the wire arm or standard 42, and a thumb screw 66 is threaded through a suitable aperture formed in the upstanding section 54 and is adapted to engage the lower end portion of the wire arm 42 to lock releasably the arm in any desired adjusted position. However, the locking action of the screw 66 isv such that the arm or standard 42 may bepivoted around the common axis ot the apertures Y6 2 and 64 for adjusting or swinging the upper end portion of theI arm and the basket member 24 either over the grill during a popping operation or laterallytou'twa'rdly from ,the bowl of the grill after all of the corn has been popped.

Asshown in FIG. l and partly in FIGS. 2 and 3, the wire arm 'or standard 42 extends upwardly from the bracket 52. The upwardly extending portion of the arm merges with another portion which not only extends laterally but is also curved or arched. While the member 4Z is preferably formed from a relatively heavy gauge resilient wire, it may be formed from any suitable resilient or spring material.

A feature of the present invention which it is important to note, is that the arm member 42 described in detail above, provides a resiliently yieldable or spring support for the basket member 24. With this support it has been found that the force of the explosions from the popping corn will cause the basket member to bounce, which bouncing action is promoted by the spring action of the arm 42. AIn other words, the spring support for the basket member enables the basket member to be automatically agitated in response to the forces produced by the popping' corn whereby uniform processing of the corn is further promoted and any possibility of burning is further minimized. t

FIG. 6 shows a slight modification of the present invention which is similar to the above described structure as indicated by the application of identical Y reference numerals with the sufix a added to corresponding parts. In this embodiment the basket structure and the support therefor may be identical to the parts previously described and the vembodiment dilers only in that a small cup 68 is provided for litting within the lower end portion of the basket memben As will be understood, it is sometimes desired to use roil and the like while popping the corn, and the container or cup 68 is adapted to receive a supply of oil along with a supply of corn to be popped.

Claims 7y and 8 show another modification of the present invention which is similar to the structures described above as indicated by application `of identical reference l*numerals with the sujlx b added to corresponding parts.

This embodiment shows an additional feature which may be added to either of the embodiments described above. More speciiically, a bai-lle member 70 is provided for further shielding the popped corn in the upper portion of the basket member from the heat source. ln the embodiment shown, the baille member 70 is in the form of an annular sheet metal member having an internal liange portion 72 adapted to t around and to be 'secured to a lower end portiouof thebasket member. The member '7d may be permanently secured to the basket member as by welding or merely Aforced on and thereby removably secured to the basket member. v While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described herein, it is obvious thatmanystructural details may be changed without departing from the spirit and lscope of the appended claims.

The invention is claimed a-s follows: Y

l.l A corn popping attachment for a charcoal grill fue ybowl having an upstanding marginal flange, said attachment comprising a flexible arm adapted to be mounted on said ange so as to extend upwardly from said ange and inwardly over the re bowl, means for securing one en d o f said arm to the flange, an inverted, conical wire cloth container mounted on the opposite end of said arm vfor receiving kernels of corn to be popped, and a cover mounted over the top of said container whereby exploding cornkernels contact the sides and cover of the containerl and cause it to move up and down thereby shaking the -unpopped kernels to the bottom of the contalner.

2. In combination a charcoal grill including Ia fire bowl having an upstanding marginal ange adapted to contain a charcoal lire, a exible arm extending upwardly from vsaid ange and inwardly over the lire bowl, means mounted on said ange for securing one end of said arm to YtheHarige, an inverted conical wire cloth container Contact the sides and cover of the container 4and cause 878,918 it to move up and down thereby shaking the unpspped 937,372 kernels to the bottom of the container. 1,154,812,

2,840,923 References Cited 1n the le of this patent 5 UNTED STATES PATENTS 248,698 Branch Gct. 25, ,1881 361,575

6 Wesner et al. Feb. 11, 1908 Higgins Oct. 19, 1909 Schultz Sept. 28, 1915 Behrens July 1, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Nov. 26, 1931 

1. A CORN POPPING ATTACHMENT FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL FIRE BOWL HAVING AN UPSTANDING MARGINAL FLANGE, SAID ATTACHMENT COMPRISING A FLEXIBLE ARM ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED ON SAID FLANGE SO AS TO EXTEND UPWARDLY FROM SAID FLANGE AND INWARDLY OVER THE FIRE BOWL, MEANS FOR SECURING ONE END OF SAID ARM TO THE FLANGE, AN INVERTED, CONICAL WIRE CLOTH CONTAINER MOUNTED ON THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID ARM FOR RECEIVING KERNELS OF CORN TO BE POPPED, AND A COVER MOUNTED OVER THE TOP OF SAID CONTAINER WHEREBY EXPLODING CORN KERNELS CONTACT THE SIDES AND COVER OF THE CONTAINER AND CAUSE IT TO MOVE UP AND DOWN THEREBY SHAKING THE UNPOPPED KERNELS TO THE BOTTOM OF THE CONTAINER. 